Stephen Nie• By Stephen Nie

A bit of history on the Constitution • Was preceded by the Articles of Confederation, which weren’t all that respected as

it kept the government weak(and partly because a rebellion in Mass.(Shay’s) couldn’t be stopped by the current Congress

• Was created in about two months by one writer and delegates from all the states except for RI

• Had to go through a lot of hurdles such as the creation of the House of Rep. and the Senate, as well as the judicial branch and the question of slavery and the status of Native Americans

• In the end The House had representatives based on state population and the judicial branch wasn’t finalized until Adams(I) creates the Supreme Court

• Slavery was ignored as a problem for the next twenty years• Native Americans were barely mentioned in the final document• The executive branch was added and Washington elected as first president

Principle of the Constitution

• Every man in the USA are born as equals• They also have the right to life, freedom, and whatever makes

them happy• That a citizen of the United States has rights that can not be

taken away• That the United States is a country of its own not a colony of

Britain

http://www.wordle.net/display/wrdl/1381018/US_Constitution

It’s Importance

• Establishes a strong central government• Establishes the executive and judicial branch• Stabilized America after a rebellion (Shay’s) and later helped

spur economic development in both domestic and international markets

Some of its uses• President Clinton was tried in front of the Senate for lying to a court and obstruction of justice, however he

was acquitted of both these charges. The Constitution allows for the legislative branch to impeach the president if it thinks that the president has done some major wrong (by vote) and will create a separate judicial council to analyze evidence and start a vote of whether or not to impeach or acquit the president.

• The treaty of Paris(1898) ends the brief Spanish-American in which Spain hands most of its remaining empire to USA and it will all be settled. In that treaty America would get Puerto Rico, Cuba, Guam and other lands. However the Constitution forbids the colonization of other lands without representation in the US government. Guam (now Guaham) has one member in the House but the Democrat is non-voting so on legislative issues he can express opinions but can’t sway the vote.

Sources• http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html US Constitution• http://www.wordle.net/display/wrdl/1381018/US_Constitution Jonathan's Wordle• http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=guam&form=QBIR&qs=n&sk=&

sc=8-4#focal=460bd04fbad9f071379108457ac7a0af&furl=http%3A%2F%2Fgo.hrw.com%2Fatlas%2Fnorm_map%2Fguam.gif Map of Guam

• http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=lewinsky+scandal&FORM=BIFD#focal=5871094b8a0b3542ee510cc8e2b1957b&furl=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.lunch.com%2Fd%2Fd7%2F167888.jpg%3F2 Scandal picture

• http://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/16/opinion/journal-monicagate-year-two.html?scp=1&sq=monicagate&st=cse Info on Clinton’s impeachment trial

• http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/sp1898.asp Treaty of Paris Information• Brinkley, Alan: A survey: American History. McGraw Hill LLC, New York, 2007